'Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville' Is Out Now

If you haven't played PopCap Games' 'Plants vs Zombies,' then you might as well be a hermit living under a rock for the past decade.

To put things bluntly, the franchise has grown from being a child-friend tower defense time-killer to a full-fledged gaming title. In 2014, Electronic Arts (EA) debuted 'Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare' as a third-person multiplayer. It then followed by a second installment a year after.

The latest game from the franchise's storied lineup has gone live after a quiet initial release back in September. 'Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville' was first seen last month, but its announcement didn't hog the spotlight due to a “24-hour countdown clock.”

Still, 'Battle for Neighborville' came up with a few surprises up its sleeve, including a novel PvP mode, Turf Takeover and a PvE area called The Town.

A source told PcGamer that the new 'Plants vs Zombies' game “will be released in chunks,” and the latest became the culmination of the six-week strategy of the developers. The new game, along with its modes, will be more suitable for mature audiences, or at the very least, “older children.”

Players will find themselves across six online multiplayer modes with the same toon backdrop where, well, plants take on zombies to thwart their plans for world domination. This will include a 4x4 battle royale called Funderdome and three “free-roam areas.” Each area will offer a bevy of quests, while familiar characters from previous installments should be present.

'Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville' will also introduce Giddy Park, a “social area” where players can relax, interact and do “light multiplayer battles.” EA and PopCap will also come up with monthly events beginning with the Lawn of Doom Festival.

The game's Founder's Edition was released earlier this month as a “paid beta” for $30. PopCap made this as their platform to polish the game's performance and to gather feedback from testers.

Engadget pointed that EA and PopCap are also working on Plants vs Zombies 3 and should also have a Founder's Edition. Android users can have first dibs on a pre-alpha version where they can submit their impressions to the developers.

The outlet added that the pre-alpha version of 'Plants vs Zombies 3 is on its very early stage, so players can expect a lot of bugs while playing the game. They're also not seeing the game to be released until 2020.